Most people think of the 9th of Av as a day or mourning for the destruction of the two Holy Temples. And it is. But the source of the sad day predates these tragedies.

The Sin of the Spies is the real source of mourning, when the nation of Israel believed the negative reports of 10 spies, who spoke badly of the good Land.

Our task, according to Yishai Fleisher and Rabbi Shimshon Nadel, is to correct this sin, to do a tikkun, by speaking only good about the Land and the People of Israel, and finding the positive points (which are ever present but often dwarfed by the negative), during the 40 days in which the spies were in the Land, and culminating on the 9th of Av.

The 40 Day Challenge is a new idea, but its roots are in our Torah, and it may just become a yearly national challenge.

Tune in to hear more, and to get some practical tips of how to be a part of this important process.

Judy Simon is the host of the show Life Lessons and the mother of six children. After almost 20 years of teaching English and special education, Judy now serves as the Beit El Tourism Coordinator, and organizes tours of the site of Jacob's Dream in Beit El. Check out Beit El's website: www.bet-el.muni.il/tour_english.asp and "like" the Beit El Heritage Center Facebook page: www.facebook.com/beitel.heritage.center
To "like" the Hebrew page: www.facebook.com/jacobs.dream
Life Lessons explores fascinating people from all walks of life and follows their stories of lessons learned along the way. The Life Lessons podcast airs every Thursday from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Israel time on Israel National Radio.